The Lulu “Mini-Storefront” widget and website banners are the unsung heroes for online marketing. Last month we talked about how press releases are a great way to spread the word about your book. With the Lulu widget and website banners, you can encourage people to buy your book wherever you are on the web.

The Lulu “Mini-Storefront” widget attracts visitors from your blog, MySpace page, Facebook profile or personal website to your Lulu content. With the Mini-Storefront, your captive audience can view your book, read the description and – the best part – buy your book(!) all from the comforts of your website.Let’s try the Facebook Widget – Here are a few tips to keep in mind when setting up your widget with your Facebook profile:
1. When you add the application to your profile, you must use your storefront name. You can find this from Lulu by going into My Lulu, clicking on the My Storefront link on the left side of the screen, click the Customize Storefront link in the upper right, and then click on the Store Info tab.

2. When you publish new content, change the access levels of existing content or delete content, you will have to click on the link for the Lulu Mini-Storefront in the upper left of your Facebook profile, and re-enter the storefront name from step 1.
With those in mind, follow the steps for adding the widget to your profile and voilá you are now able to show your Lulu works to all of your friends.

Not on a social network but still want to be a part of online marketing? Try the web buttons and banners! All you have to do to make it happen is to go to the “My Lulu” page and click on the “Promote” icon (a star) next to one of the available products. Customized code is created and can then be placed on other websites to generate a button or banner ad. There are a variety of buttons to choose from, so you can have one that doesn’t clash with the site design.

So now that you have these two tools at your fingertips, try them out! The best way to sell your book is to sell to those you know

Of course, I can benefit from domain names, and that will come later, but sure do like the ease of the buttons, and the fact I can easily copy my images and descriptions from my project site to paste into a post on my Typepad. Next: (big challenge): making money!
But, just wanted to say thanks, re Lulu. Between Lulu and Typepad, I’m cookin’.
CJ Carroll/ Claudia Carroll

But what do you do if you don’t get an icon in the upper left corner of your Facebook page? Like a lot of people, I couldn’t get this to work, but after reading tips in the forums and some trial and error for about 90 minutes, I got it in the Boxes section. Won’t transfer to the Wall though. There were no steps to follow, nothing was prompted, I had to do everything manually, and it’s still not working right. Perhaps some clarity would be good here, for example Storefront Name could be interpreted a lot of different ways, if you mean URL, say so.

Hi, I have a question, the Facebook widget still works? because I installed the application on my facebook profile but then I saw that disappeared and i am looking for this in the Apps Directory and i don’t found it… Even, in the mini-storefront on Lulu, the link is broken.

If you don’t have a Facebook page you’re losing business — seriously. The social networking site has more than half a billion users – read that again – half a billion. First, you need to set up a page then members can “like” the page. You can create a Facebook page for a company or product. You can also set up a page to promote a cause, an artist, band, or public figure. Check the box indicating you have the authority to represent the person, business, brand, or product you are setting a page up for, click on “Create Official Page”, and you’re in business. At that point, you need to get other Facebook users to “like” your page and start building customers. Post announcements with a link to your Facebook page and invite them to join. Also, add a link to your Facebook page to your standard e-mail signature. Finally, cross-link with Twitter to promote your Facebook page and to cross-post content so it appears on the Facebook page and on Twitter simultaneously.

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[…] How does having 1000 True Fans sound to you? Nick first posted about that self publishing strategy back in May, and then John, Dan, and Lauren followed up with different ways to use the internet to achieve that goal, whether you Gain an Audience Using Twitter, Use the Power of a Blog to Promote Your Work, or Take it to the Web with Tools for Online Marketing and Promotion. […]